Visible card index file



y 7, 1953 J. F. FOLEY ETAL VISIBLE CARD INDEX mm 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledNOV. 7. 1950 Zmventors .GZedson James F Fbley ic/i Gttorneg July 7, 1953J; FOLEY ET'AL 2,644,457

VISIBLE CARD INDEX FILE Filed Nov. '7, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 PatentedJul 7, 1.953

UNITED; STATES PATENT OFFICE p I assess r VISIBLE CARD INDEX FILE JamesF. Foley and Frederick C. Gleason, New York, N. Y., assignors to.Remington Rand Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Appication November '7, 1950, Serial No. 194,526 solai s. (o1; 129-16)supporting trays pivotaliy mounted therein in stepped index-displayingrelation.

The invention is particularly ada'ptableffor use in centrally locatedreservation systems, such as used by railroads, airlines or steamshipcompanies, wherein it is desirable that a maximum of recorded data bevisibly available for instantaneous selection. Essentially, theinvention consists of a sheet metal frame having a base, opposing'sidewalls, provided with inclined .upper edges, a front wall, a rear walland a recessed inclined floor or base secured within said walls. Theseelements are so assembled as to form a light weight, rigid, unitarystructure. Arranged to be pivotally mounted on the frame side walls anddisposed in spaced alignment with the inclined base are. plural visibleindex card supporting trays. 7 I Uniformly dimensioned trays arevertically stepped to provide for a visible area at, the upper margin ofeach tray inwhich index card tabs may be readily' viewed. Further, byemploying cards having laterally offset tabs thereon, the display areaof each tray can accommodate several tabs. All of the laterally disposedtabs are readily visible, therefore, the selecting of a particular card.is greatly facilitated. It is proposed'that each trayoontain alikenumber of cards with similarly disposed tabs in order to produce acolumnarrelation between the respective trays.

The data-bearing cards are supported in each tray in a substantiallyvertical positionby means of an upwardly extending face portion, arearwardly extending projection disposed at the base thereof and theupwardly-extending face portion of the next higher tray.

The projection extends rearwardly under the base of .the next highertray, thereforain addition to acting as a supporting shelf for thecards, the said projection limits forward pivotal movement of the tray.The uppermost traycooperates with a fixed plate in an analogous manner.The projections are disposed relative to the base of Should the trays bedisturbed prior to the returning of the selected card, visual scanningof the entire file will locate the proper filing place by ineansof theobviously apparent blank area normally occupied by the tab oftheselectedcard.

Inthe drawings: I

Figure lis a front elevational view of the invention with a portion cutaway to show the in.- clined recessed base.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2-2 of Fig. 1 looking inthedirection of the arrows.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the rack generally without cards andillustrating the front trays in forwardlyinclined position to provide atray separation.

Fig. 4 is a sectional detail illustrating the I disposed base edges,vertical front and rear edges and downwardly inclined upper edges.

7 Inclined base 22 is secured thereto in parallel relation with andspaced below or recessed from the inclined upper, edges thereof. Thus,front wall I6, rear wall I8, inclined base 22 and the portions of sidewalls I2, 1 I4 extending thereabove combine toprovide an inclinedhousing for visible index card supporting trays 24.

, nal of face portion 26 .and has'the tip portion the next higher trayso as to permit a limitedv I degreeof movement forwardly of theperpendicular. In a like manner, the spacing between trays allowslimited movement rearwardly of the culty since the balance of thecardsare gravita-- tionally retained in either the displaced position or thenormal position.

pins 34 which provide a means for the pivotal securing of trays 24 inthe rack Iil.

. Panels 36, 38', secured to the inner surfaces of side walls I2 and I4,respectively, co-act to pivotally mount trays 24 thereon. As shown inFigs.

- 2 and 4, the upper lateral edges of panels 36, 38

' complemental rows of apertures MI The rows of 3 apertures 40 arelinearly disposed parallel with the inclined edges of side walls l2, 14.Further, the trays are arranged to be positioned substantially uprightwith pins 34 journalled in the op" posing apertures 40.

When assembled in this manner, projection 28 of the lowermost tray 24extends rearwardly under sleeve 39 of the next higher tray. Projections28 0f the remaining trays are similarly disposed. Pivotal movementforwardly of each tray is therefore limited by means of theiprojectiontip 32 abutting against the adjacent higher tray. The projection 28 ofthe uppermost tray 24 is disposed under fixed plate 42 having asleeve-like base 44. Plate 42 is secured at the upper end thereof to theframe rear wall I8.

Rearward movement of the individual trays 24 is similarly limited bymeans of plate 42, i. e., the rear of the face portion of the uppermosttray 24 abuts thereagainst and subsequently each face portion of thelower trays abuts against the adjacent higher tray and is stoppedthereby.

Cards 46, having index tabs 48 projecting upwardly therefrom, arearranged to be positioned.

upright'in pockets formed by adjacent tray face portions and rest on theprojections 28 therebetween. When disposed on the trays, cards 46 arearranged in a predetermined order.

In the particular embodiment shown in the drawings, each tray 24 isarranged to receive six cards therein. The tabs 48 0f the respectivecards are spaced in lateral offset relation and are visibly displayedabove the upwardly extending portion of tray 24. When in this positionthe upper edges of the tabs 48 align with the upper edge of the nexthigher tray, therefore the tabs of cards disposed in all trays aresimilarly clearly visible.

Secured to the face of the lowermost tray 24 and disposed in columnarrelation to tabs 48, is

4 tending therefrom, tray supporting panels disposed against theinterior of said side walls and secured thereto, plural apertureslinearly disposed in spaced alignment insaid panels, saidmarginally-extending members adapted and arranged to pivotally securesaid trays within said apertures with the projections thereon extendingrearwardly beneath the next higher tray sleeve whereby pivotal movementof said trays is limited.

2. A. filing rack for visible index cards comprising a frame formed fromsheet metal blanks an indicia holder 50 in which columnar headingindicia may be detachably secured.

operationally, the invention presents a simple,

sary to glance at the columnar heading followed by a rapid scanning 0fthe indicated column. Subsequent manual forward displacement of the trayholding the desired card effects the forward movement of all lowertrays. The chosen card may be then readily removed, inspected andreturned to the correct tray since all trays below are disposedforwardly of the perpendicular and all trays above are recliningrearwardly of the perpendicular. The separation effected thereby isreadily ascertained, therefore, filing errors are substantiallyeliminated. Should it be necessary torernove two or more cards fromdiffering-trays at the same time, the said cards may be returned totheir correct trays by merely scanning the overall file and locating theobvious blank space.

The invention claimed is:

1. A filing rack for visible index cards comprising a frame formed fromsheet metal blanks to provide substantially triangular shaped side wallshaving generally inclined upper edges, offset front and rear walls, abase and an inclined floor disposed parallel to and spaced from theinclined upper edges of said side walls, plural card holding trays eachhaving a substantially upright face portion, an integrally formedprojection rearwardly extending from the base thereof and a sleeveintegrally formed therewith and disposed under said projection, memberssecured tosaid sleeve and marginally exto provide side walls havinggenerally inclined upper edges, offset front and rear walls, a base andan inclined fioor disposed parallel to and spaced from the inclinedupper edges of said side walls, plural card holding trays each having asubstantially upright face portion, a right angularly disposedprojection rearwardly extending from the base thereof and a sleevecentrally disposed thereunder, pins secured to said sleeve andmarginallyextending therefrom, tray supporting panels disposed against theinterior of said side walls and secured thereto, plural apertureslinearly disposed in spaced alignment in said panels arranged to receivesaid pins to pivotally mount said trays in stepped relatiomeach of saidtrays being substantailly balanced whereby forwardly pivotal movement ofa selected tray past the perpendicular effects a similar pivotalmovement of all lower trays with each rearwardly extending projectioncoacting with the next higher tray to limit said forward pivotalmovement.

3. A filing rack as set forthin claim 2 wherein pivotal movement of theuppermost card-holding tray is limited by a fixed plate secured to therear wall of the frame.

4. A' filing rack for visible index cards comprising a frame formed fromsheet metal blanks to provide side walls having generally inclined upperedges, offset front and rear walls, a base and an inclined floordisposed parallel to and spaced from the inclined upper edges of saidside walls, plural card holding trays each having a substantiallyupright face portion, an integrally formed projection rearwardlyextending from the base thereof and a sleeve integrally formed therewithand disposed under said projection, means secured to said sleeve andmarginally extending, therefrom, tray supporting panels disposed againstthe interior of said side walls and secured thereto, plural apertureslinearly disposed in spaced alignment in said panels, said means adaptedand arranged to pivotally secure said trays within said apertureswiththe projections thereon extending rearwardly beneath the next highertray sleeve whereby the upright face portion and projection of one traycooperates with the upright face portion of the next higher tray toretain cards disposed therebetween in a substantially verticalindex-displaying position.

JAMES F. FOLEY.

FREDERICK C. GLEASON. ReferencesCited in the file of this patent-UNITED'S'TATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,119,925 Chatham Mi- Dec. 8,1914 1,350,186 straubelni Aug. 17, 1920 FOREIGN PATENTS Number CountryDate 119,727 Sweden Sept. 30, 1947

